For
almost 100 years in the United States, countless resources have been spent
feeding—oops—I mean, “fighting” the “war
on drugs”, specifically marijuana. Before that time, marijuana was
largely acceptable and viewed as inherently valuable throughout the world.
Today, medical science seems to support its use for certain purposes—not
to mention whatever social uses for which some may advocate its use. However,
since 1937, Congress has deemed that marijuana has absolutely no medical
benefit and purpose and made anyone who possesses it subject to extreme
criminal penalty. The history behind Congress’ enactment is quite
suspect, and the “war on marijuana” deserves objective attention.

Despite
Congress’ labeling marijuana as a dangerous drug without any medical
use and with a high potential for abuse, fifteen states in the union (the
last I looked) have declared otherwise. So, what insistent force keeps
Congress from removing marijuana from CSA’s Schedule 1? Answered
by historical comparison, Dwight D. Eisenhower’s reference in 1960
to the military-industrial complex should have included the marijuana-bureaucracy
complex created by this “war on marijuana”. As a limited point
of illustration, consider the mass raids which took place on March 14,
2011 throughout Montana by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies—spearheaded
of course by federal agencies, with the state and local agencies acting
as tagalongs.

On March
15, 2011, the United States Department of Justice (USDJ) released a written
press statement regarding the numerous and simultaneous raids which took
place in the great state of Montana—one of the several states which
has declared by law that marijuana in fact has medical value and is lawful
to use as such. In this statement, the USDJ listed the number of law enforcement
agencies involved in the raids. The following is an excerpt from that
public statement, indicating at least how many agencies where involved:

“[T]he
Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s
Homeland Security Investigations, the Internal Revenue Service, the Bureau
of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
the Environmental Protection Agency-Criminal Investigation Division, U.S.
Customs and Border Protection-Border Patrol, and the Occupational Safety
and Health Administration. These federal agencies were assisted by the
Montana Division of Criminal Investigations, and local High Intensity
Drug Trafficking Area task forces, the Northwest Drug Task Force, the
Kalispell Police Department, the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office,
the Missoula Police Department, the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office,
the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force,
the Great Falls Police Department, the Cascade County Sheriff’s
Office, the Central Montana Drug Task Force, the Billings Police Department,
the Yellowstone County Sheriff’s Office, the Eastern Montana High
Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the Dillon Police
Department, the Beaverhead County Sheriff’s Office, the Park County
Sheriff’s Office, the Bozeman Police Department, the Gallatin County
Sheriff’s Office, the Missouri River Drug Task Force, the Helena
Police Department, the Lewis & Clark Sheriff’s Office, and the
Eastern Montana Drug Task Force - Miles City” (U.S. Department of
Justice, Michael W. Cotter, United States Attorney, District of Montana,
News Advisory, March 15, 2011).

Did
you get all that?! It would take some people shorter time to read a chapter
in the Bible than it would to read this list of agencies supposedly pursuing
“criminal enterprises that have violated the Controlled Substances
Act (CSA) related to marijuana.” Ibid.

So,
how many government agents were involved within those departments who
were paid in that pursuance? How many government staff members or private
contractors were involved to assist those investigations? How many high-dollar
pieces of equipment and surveillance were paid for and used in those investigations?
How many clerks will be needed to keep the public record files? How many
pieces of paper will be printed? How many prosecutors will be paid to
prosecute and judges paid to adjudicate these man-made crimes? How many
public defenders will be needed to defend them? How many jail personnel
are employed to make sure these “criminals” reside in jail?

How
many food dispensaries are paid to deliver food to these same inmates?
How many fees and fines are collected from the defendants and paid to
the various governments as mandated by statute? How many drug rehabilitation
programs are funded by tax dollars to “treat” these “drug
addicts”? How many lobbyists are paid to use such statistics to
show why more taxes are needed to sustain these criminal-pursuing operations?
How many tax dollars were and will be used to pay for every person and
everything involved, directly or indirectly, in this “war”?
The numbers would undoubtedly rise into the billions. Can anyone say job
security or economic stimulation?

Drawing
from my own personal experience, I see the absurdity of the “war
on marijuana.” During my time as a prosecutor at the Florida State
Attorney’s Office from 2004 to 2006 where I handled literally thousands
of criminal cases and tried nearly 60 jury trials, I was never impressed
that marijuana was the cause of any criminal activity. Oh sure, possession
of marijuana charges comprised a large number of my criminal cases;
but the criminal act was merely the man-made law of possession of
marijuana. In fact, most criminal activities were in large part caused
by alcohol, where one who consumed too much alcohol became violent; beat
his wife; neglected his children; drove drunk and hurt someone; caused
a disturbance of the peace; or other similar evils.

I saw
those alcohol-related cases every day. Yet, I cannot say the same regarding
marijuana. I would estimate that of the thousands of cases I handled,
at least half (if not more) were a direct cause of alcohol consumption
or addiction. Yet, alcohol is legal and marijuana is illegal.

In truth,
about the only reason anyone can advocate for not treating alcohol in
the same legal manner as marijuana is that “alcohol is too much
ingrained into societal norms.” Try to convince an inquiring child
on that logic: it will not stand. This logic of course is even more disturbing
considering the harsh penalties carried with marijuana laws where lives
are destroyed by government action. Perhaps too many politicians love
their alcohol too much to make it a target of reprisal.

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Still,
there must be a target to perpetuate the bureaucracy and marijuana appears
to be that target. Even more disturbing in the scenario is that the States
cater to the federal government’s manipulation on the matter, making
any and all activities relating to marijuana illegal. To suppress that
“evil of marijuana”, varieties of government create pyramids
of law enforcement agencies for the large purpose of arresting persons
acting in relation to marijuana, and the ball of revenue generation rolls
through the course of government and social programs. But how else will
government power, size and control increase unless it has a “war”
to wage?

Timothy N. Baldwin
is an attorney from Pensacola, FL. He received his bachelor of arts degree
at the University of West Florida in 2001 and received his Juris Doctorate
degree from Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 2004. Baldwin
was a Prosecutor in the 1st District of Florida from 2004 to 2006. In
2006, he started his own law practice, where he created specialized legal
services entirely for property management companies.

Like his father,
Chuck Baldwin,
Timothy Baldwin is an astute articulator of cutting-edge political ideas,
which he posts on his website, www.libertydefenseleague.com
and speaks about in various public forum. Baldwin is the author of Freedom
For A Change, in which he expounds the fundamental principles of freedom
believed by America’s forefathers and gives inspiring and intelligent
application of those principles to America’s current political and
cultural standing. Baldwin believes that the times require all freedom-loving
Americans to educate, invigorate and activate the principles of freedom
within the STATES of America for ourselves and our posterity.

I saw those alcohol-related
cases every day. Yet, I cannot say the same regarding marijuana. I would
estimate that of the thousands of cases I handled, at least half (if not
more) were a direct cause of alcohol consumption or addiction.